[2]CC Sabathia always seemed to think he could pitch last season. He went on the disabled list twice, and he through some underwhelming stretches, but Sabathia has a bulldog reputation, and he did his best to live up to it. But after offseason elbow surgery to clean up a bone spur from his left elbow, Sabathia said he can easy feel the difference between health and not healthy.

“I definitely feel a relief,” he said. “Just having that range of motion back and not having that ache at the end of my extension. I felt that right away, so hopefully I can just continue to get better and continue to feel less. After last year, going through what I went through pretty much the whole second half, playing catch so far, it feels a lot better.”

Sabathia hasn’t been on a mound yet — “I never throw off the mound until I get down here anyway,” he said — and expects to throw his first fastball/changeup bullpen on Thursday. But he’s been playing catch, and that’s been enough for him to feel the surgical difference.

“He wasn’t 100 percent last year,” Girardi said. “Any time you need surgery at the end of the year, I think it’s fair to say that you weren’t 100 percent. But probably 95 percent of the players that go out there every day aren’t 100 percent. That’s part of the job. You’re going to play with bumps and bruises and injuries that you can still compete with. But I feel better that we were able to address the problem and he’s coming into spring training healthy. He wasn’t overworked last year, so I feel better about it.”

Even today, Sabathia called the elbow issue an “excuse,” while also acknowledging that it was “always there.” Elbow surguries are generally less concerning than shoulder operations, and Sabathia’s was relatively minor, so he’s expected to be fully healthy for this season. Even in a down year, Sabathia reached 200 innings with a 3.38 ERA last season.

“I just want to concentrate on staying healthy,” Sabathia said. “Any kind of numbers I feel will be there if I’m healthy, so that’s the only thing I’m worried about.”

[3]Some other pitching notes from today:

• David Phelps made the big move from the middle lockers — where most of the minor leaguers are assigned — to a locker on the left wall where most of the big league staff is grouped together. Adam Warren also moved to that wall. Phelps has changed uniform numbers to No. 35. He has a locker right next to Andy Pettitte.

• In other locker-assignment news: The short wall just inside the main door has three lockers: Cesar Cabral, Manny Banuelos and Michael Pineda. That must be rehab central.

• Sabathia said he lost about 10 pounds over the winter and is down to 290. He said that’s what he was last spring, and that seems about right. He looks about the same as last spring. “This is the ideal weight,” he said. “I was probably about 300 by the end of last year, so I probably gained 10 pounds. Room service, different stuff. It’s part of the season. I’m fine with that.”

• Any concerns about Mariano Rivera? “I have extreme confidence in Mo, just knowing how hard he works, wanting to be ready and be prepared, be on top of his game,” Sabathia said. “He’s ageless. He can pitch forever. I have a lot of confidence in him coming back and being the same old Mo.”

• A few guys threw in the outfield today, but the first full day of pitching workouts is tomorrow. There was no schedule of bullpens posted, but I’m guessing we’ll have those tomorrow morning when the clubhouse opens.